Snow Days!! (Arkansas style)

This topic is a cause for celebration from many a school age child! That magical announcement that comes, sometimes quickly, sometimes way too slowly. That 'moment of truth', when the ever-powerful, and annoyingly slow "they" (that is, the school district administrators) announce what all of the rest of us see as the inevitable.

"They" have announced that, due to the weather, school will be:
..dismissed early today, bus routes will be reduced to 'inclement weather policy'
...cancelled for tomorrow (or whatever)
...2 hour delayed start

Or Whatever!! we have all been watching the weather! We KNOW what is coming, and that it would be 'dangerous', 'irresponsible', or maybe just highly annoying for them to NOT cancel school. As my own children and my students are adding in their own minds......"especially on a day we were all going to be taking tests:)"

Yes, there is cause for some celebration! For some, it is the timing. Could it be more perfect? School cancelled on the day before semester tests begin, knowing that if a student has earned exemption from those tests, this counts as the first day of Christmas break! (yes! I called it CHRISTMAS break!! Not sorry, not following the PC line.)

For others, it is the first significant winter weather, and that in and of itself is important. My own children look forward to the first snow with great anticipation. I myself don't enjoy snowfall for the same reasons as my kids, but I enjoy the quiet whisper of falling snow. The softly whistling wind (hopefully), and the calming glow that happens as every stray bit of light is reflected in a million softly falling flakes. KNowing that the only reason anyone would expect me to go out is to take care of those essential farm systems and checks that keep our farm running. Otherwise, I can sit and read a book, or work online, or read e-mail, or just "veg" in front of a movie.

Well, I said this was SNOW DAY ARKANSAS STYLE! The anticipation is there, the joy in missing school happens, but some of the other stuff.....well, let's just say that softly falling snow is less common. The stuff around here that is more likely to cause school closures and those at- home-times is sleet or ice. Pretty in its way, but more accurately described as pretty treacherous. It falls fast and hard (stings like crazy on bare necks and ears when walking outdoors to handle farm chores, so bundle up.), and takes very little time to cover things in a "blanket" of tiny little ice balls. Once accumulated, driving is iffy at best. Cars that have had time to sit, usually require a hefty tug-o-war just to get doors open, and windshields, window-wipers and mirrors are useless if you don't have 1. A good scraper, 2. some decent chemical de-icer, and/or 3. a really good defrost sytem in your car.

Roads or driveways that are sloped can become impassible very quickly. Imagine the effect of tiny ball-bearings made of ice. One year, Bob and I couldn't get to our job at Skil because the sleet had coated our driveway to a point that nothing short of tanktreads would make it up his driveway. ( to illustrate, we walked to all our farm houses, but had to drive screws through the soles of our boots to have enough traction to even do that.) strap on Ice spikes for shoes are not readily available in most of the stores I've looked in.

I like playing in REAL snow for short periods, but I enjoy the "snowbound" life even better. A big mug of hot chocolate, maybe baking some cookies, even playing video games with the kids. Or the soup! Yes, I said "the soup"!!

At my house, winter weather is our favorite time to put on a big pot of soup. And I mean BIG! Michelle and I use one of those 5 gallon soup pots, and I like to go at least 1/2 to 3/4 full when I cook soup. I guess I could say (should anyone be surprised?) that our house favorite is chicken dumplings. Yes, we have access to chicken. Our big pot usually fills up with about 12-15 big spuds, a package of carrots, several onions, whatever celery we have in the house, spices, etc., and 3-5 lbs. of diced chicken. And as anyone in our family would tell you. The best thing about a big pot of dumplings is that there is more for later, and it just gets better each time you add to it and reheat it.

Speaking of which, it is time to eat, and a big bowl of chicken dumplings is sounding really good!!